Orbital ATK cuts 61 jobs, including some from Utah

ATK Technicians prepare the CASTOR 30 that will be sent to NASA?s Wallops Island Virginia, for the first Test Flight of Orbital?s Commercial Taurus II rocket later this year. Defense contractor Orbital ATK announced Monday that the company has laid off 61 workers. The cuts were from the propulsion systems department in divisions located in Alabama, Florida and Utah.

CLEARFIELD — Defense contractor Orbital ATK announced Monday that the company has laid off 61 workers.

The cuts were from the propulsion systems department in divisions located in Alabama, Florida and Utah.

"This reduction was driven by a business need to reduce costs, streamline and become more efficient while maintaining the appropriate skill level to run our business in the future," said spokeswoman Jennifer Bowman. "We were able to minimize the impact to our workforce by redeploying several individuals to other Orbital ATK divisions. However, reductions are never easy and we have lost some very talented individuals."

The company employs approximately 2,900 people in Utah at facilities in Clearfield, Magna and Promontory.